Blog:Blog

Hospitality in The Park continues to go from strength to strength. Building from last year’s first instalment, this musical extravaganza is looking to become a firm fixture in the London festival calendar. Billed as the last hurrah of the summer, drum and bass heads from all around the world descended on Finsbury park to see out the summer with a bang.

Once again, the legendary Hospitality record label gathered together an all-star cast from the all corners of the drum and bass world. The line up this year Included a few familiar Hospital Records mainstays; London Electricity, back with his big band, and Roni Size were all present and correct. However, the appearance on the line up of outliers such as Deep Medi, gave the sense that you were seeing all the wide facets of the genre in one explosive mix.

More than 12,000 drum & bass fans descended on London’s Finsbury Park when Hospitality in the Park returned on Saturday, September 23rd. Live and DJ sets included London Elektricity headlining with a 16-piece band, Roni Size marking the 20th anniversary of New Forms plus Fred V & Graffix. Ann McManus was there.

Arriving at Finsbury Park with a lovely new yoga mat still strapped to my back from the morning’s festivities at Wanderlust 108, I thought security would be a nightmare. Quite the opposite. The lovely guard who checked me in wanted to open up my yoga mat holder just to find the label so she could try and buy one similar and we had a but of a natter about yoga. In combination with complete lack of queue, this was a brilliant start to the day.

My experiences with drum and bass lie within the realms of jump up and jungle – having only ever attended Playaz at Fabric (which just so happened to be my first ever rave) and Breakin’ Science. They’re the kind of events where you are likely to hear Bricks Don’t Roll and Mr. Happy get wheeled up at least 5 times throughout the night and (reluctantly) will be engrained in your head for the following week. With that in mind, drum and bass events are seen as a special occasion wherein I strive to release all my energy and skank to my heart’s content.

Hospitality In The Park wasn’t like any of my previous experiences. The festival hosted 8 different stages dedicated to a variety of different styles of the genre. The festival offered punters a unique experience to revel in the dubstep scene that once thrived in the city by bringing the Deep Medi crew to Finsbury Park. It was the variation that I lusted for at events like Breakin’ Science and Playaz. You were surrounded outrageously enthusiastic fans who were ready to show you their dirtiest bass face.

Stepping out of Finsbury Park station on Saturday you were greeted by a heavy bass murmuring in the distance and hordes of ravers being directed by incredibly joyful stewards to the biggest drum & bass gathering in the UK this year.

There’s only one thing we could be about, Hospitality In The Park, which returned to Finsbury Park for its second ever festival. From the get go positive vibes filled the air and brought together a sick crowd of drum & bass heads for one mad party. Though with a lineup as tight as it was, we couldn’t really expect anything less.

Hospitality in the Park returned to Finsbury Park in London this September for its second festival outting. The event is hosted by Hospital Records in conjunction with a number of other big-name players such as Deep Medi and FabricLive.

If you have even a passing interested in drum and bass, buy a ticket to Hospitality in the Park next year. Go to it, and I guarantee you, you will fall in love. 10/10, probably the best day festival I’ve ever been to. Soundsytems for the most part were top notch – enough to leave my ears ringing long into the night (maybe bring some earplugs next year). The music was ridiculously good with a variety of sub genres available if you’re more of a liquid than a jump up kinda person, and the vibe was again 10/10. People were super chill and friendly, which, combined with the fantastic music and organisation, created the perfect party atmosphere.

After smashing their first festival last year, there was no doubt going to be another one and Saturday 23rd September saw Hospital Records bring the bass back to Finsbury Park for another day of heavy drum and bass loving raving.

Having seen them smash it at Boomtown 2017, there was no better place to start then in the Invaderz tent for Kings Of The Rollers. The setting may not have compared much to the huge stage of Sector 6 but take nothing away from the set, roller after roller there was enough in there to bring everyones bass face out and heavy rollers such as ‘Serum – The Finger’ and “Bladerunner – Jungle Jungle’did just that. Taking over after that set was certainly going to be a task but the follow up couldn’t have been any better. TNA, made up of Nu Elementz, Turno, Azza and Grima took to the decks for a very special set in tribute to the late DJ Dominator. The atmosphere in the tent was electric as the set was kicked off with the well known remix of ‘Ready or Not’ by Dominator and Logan D.

Get Involved!

Want to get involved with Hospitality?Click Here to find out how you can!

Looking for something?

Search for:

About Hospitality

Hospitality is the worldwide club event of top UK D+B imprint Hospital Records. From humble beginnings Hospitality has grown to become a true titan of the scene, known for it’s feel good music policy, showstopping DJs and a friendly, up for it crowd. Read more >